Brighton Birthday Bender

If you follow me on Instagram you will already have seen some snapshots from my trip to Brighton to celebrate my birthday but I thought I'd share a few more of the details today. Ben and I met after work at London Bridge station (via a pub!) armed with a carrier bag of booze intending to have a few drinks to pass the time with the expectation of a quiet night on arrival.

Things didn't go quite plan and I have to confess by the time we arrived in a Brighton we were rather merry to say the least. This was a blessing due to our hotel, The Royal Albion having deteriated to a great degree. We'd stayed many times before so this was booked for nostalgia taking the reviews with a pinch of salt - how wrong we were!

Meatliquor link

Once we'd ditched our bags we made our way to Meatliquor where the boozing continued and we devoured sloppy burgers and salty chips. It was quieter than I expected for our 8pm booking but the dark atmosphere and great staff (and our alcohol levels) made for a fun experience. From there we headed into town and continued the night away and things got really messy, eventually stumbling home via my favourite chip shop and passing out in bed.

Come morning we both woke hungover and took in the state of our room. Deciding breakfast was on the cards we made our way to the North Laines as I wanted to check out Snoopers Paradise. Typically on our bleary eyed journey we couldn't find anywhere of note to eat and dived into the closest place we could find to satisfy our hunger and then just walked around enjoying the sunshine. Of course typically after we'd eaten we found numerous independent cafes we would've prefered to dine in!

The Royal Pavilion link

After putting our Grand National bets on we had a walk round The Royal Pavilion Gardens before deciding we were hungry again and passing ASK decided that would do for our salad requirements. As standard a side of fries was added.

ASK link

Whilst ASK was lovely both of us were flagging so we decided to get some coffees to go and return to the hotel, watch the Grand National in comfort whilst deciding what to do that evening. Our exploits the previous night meant we were both happy to do something low key and with a desire for fajitas we headed to El Mexicano.

 

El Mexicano link

Unfortunately what looked promising on Tripadvisor didn't translate in house and our fajitas were lacking any mexican flavour (to us they tasted like they'd been cooked in chicken stock?!) and missing vital ingredients of peppers and onions - replaced with courgette and carrot.

With an uninviting room and only four channels to choose from on the tv we decided to go and see Fast & Furious 7. I love these films, ridiculously unrealistic they may be but I love them and it was even more poignant since the passing of Paul Walker.

Blackbird Tea Rooms link

Our last day in Brighton was the day of the Brighton Marathon which we hadn't been aware of when booking and of course the roads were closed and streets were filled with people. After checking out of our room we found the cute Blackbird Tea Rooms in the Laines and I finally felt I had my anticipated 'Brighton' experience. After breakfast we had a walk along the pier and discovered my namesake so it would've been rude not to stop for a drink.

Throughly exhausted but with smiles on our faces we tracked down a taxi and made our way to the station and began the journey home (which felt like it took days as is the way when heading home from somewhere!). All in all a very fun weekend. 

Tweet Pin It Now!